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Buick rises to No. 2 in dependability study, Lexus keeps crown

The Lexus brand, once again, took the top spot when the reliability of 2012 models was tabulated (Image: Toyota Motor Corporation)

No one wants to find themselves at the bottom of a J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study.

The market research company tracks vehicle reliability over a three-year period, and has the power to make or break a car company’s reputation.

The most recent study followed the trials and tribulations of 2012 model year vehicles, and ranked brands and models accordingly.

Thanks to the study, Buick now has reason to feel sunny, while Fiat might want to have a friend stay at their side.

The resurgent Buick brand rose to the number 2 spot, one step shy of the pinnacle, which is (and was) occupied by Lexus. Toyota and Cadillac were the third and fourth most dependable brands, with Honda and Porsche tied for fifth.

Clearly, there’s a Toyota-General Motors rivalry at play.

Buick also scored the top spot in the large car segment for its Lacrosse.

Buick rose to the Number 2 spot in this year’s J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study, with the LaCrosse topping the large car segment (Image: General Motors)

J.D. Power forms its list by tabulating the number of owner’s complaints per 100 vehicles of each brand. With 273 problems reported from 100 vehicles, Fiat scored dead last in this study.

This isn’t good news for a quirky brand that’s trying to gain a foothold in a challenging market.

Other brands that fell below average were Ford, Hyundai, Volkswagen, Land Rover, Mini, Jeep and Dodge.

While these rankings could cause vehicle owners (or prospective owners) to tug comically at their shirt collars, let it be known that the study records all complaints, many of which concern non-essential but much-used functions such as infotainment systems.

Images of exploding gas tanks, detaching driveshafts, transmissions falling onto the road, and pistons flying through the hood are often the first things that come to mind when people talk about dependability, but this is increasingly giving way to frustrations over wonky technology and non-user friendly interfaces.

Fiat ranked dead last in the vehicle dependability study, which factored heavily on in-car technology. A 2015 Fiat 500X is seen here.

“Technology issues with vehicles are viewed as significant problems by owners, and they typically don’t go away after the honeymoon period of vehicle ownership is over,” stated Renee Stephens, vice president of U.S. automotive at J.D. Power, following the latest rankings.

Buyers demand the latest technology and conveniences in their vehicles, and automakers struggle to keep up with that demand. When the resulting technology is marketed with flaws and drawbacks, buyers tend to be very critical, and won’t forget when it comes time to decide on another vehicle.

It makes you wonder how the Chevy Vega would have ranked had there been touchscreens and Bluetooth in the ’70s.

With dropping oil prices and an economy on the upswing, why not buy that new Mustang? (Image: Ford Motor Company)

End-of-year sales figures are in, and it seems the people who didn’t buy a new car this year could all fit on a short-wheelbase bus.

2014 turned out to be a boffo year for the automotive industry, and for American manufacturers, too – automakers who just a half-decade ago were questioning whether they’d survive to see the 2010’s.

In Canada, overall sales were up 6% over last year’s totals, and rose an astonishing 16% in December. In the United States, sales also rose 6% in 2014, and 11% in the month of December.

In Canada, the top three companies turned out to be the Big Three, with Ford Motor Company on top with 15.8% of the market, while Fiat-Chrysler took 15.7% and General Motors snagging 13.5%.

In the U.S. of A, GM was on top of the corporate sales ladder with 17.8% of the year’s market share, followed by Ford (14.9%) and Toyota Motor Corporation (14.4%).

Buick made impressive sales gains in Canada in 2014, selling 31% more than the year before (Image: General Motors)

In terms of brands, Canadians were most partial to Ford, which saw sales rise by 39.5% for December (compared to Dec. ’13) and 2.7% for the year. Honda and Toyota took 2nd and 3rd place, with Chevrolet and RAM rounding out the top five.

South of the border, Americans also found themselves drawn to Ford the most (thought the annual tally dipped by 1.1% over last year), followed by Chevrolet, Toyota, Honda and Nissan.

Other automakers also had strong showings this December compared to last. Buick saw Canadian sales rose 64.9%, finishing the year 31% higher than 2013. Chrysler sales shot up 86.9% in the Christmas month, though overall sales were down slightly (2.9%) for the year.

Even the Lincoln brand, which seemed (until recently) to be as endangered as GM and Chrysler were in 2008, saw positive sales gains. In Canada, the luxury brand saw a 61.4% boost in December, finishing the year 17.3% higher than last. In the U.S., Lincoln saw December sales rise 21.4% over 2013, with an annual total 15.6% higher.

Interest is being rekindled in that storied brand, it would seem.

Scion sales slid sharply in 2014 in both American and Canadian markets (Image: Toyota Motor Corporation)

In a game with winners and losers, there always has to be a downside – even with buyers running to dealerships en masse, cash in hand. This past month – and this past year – the loser was Scion, the Toyota offshoot that appears to be headed the same direction as the Lusitania.

With December sales down 30.7% in Canada and 11.7% in the U.S., drastic action will be needed to reverse this trend and keep the brand afloat. The annual sales loss for Scion works out to a drop of 20.4% in Canada and 15.1% in the U.S.

Ouch.

A sporty, 5-door hatch scheduled to be released in 2015 might change things, but I’d say more models are needed to bring the brand back to visibility.

Crystal ball types are predicting that it will be difficult for the industry to maintain this level of sales next year, which isn’t all that surprising. At some point, the amount of new cars already bought, and the amount of people who can’t afford them, will conspire to reach a sales plateau.

Low interest rates have been kind to Canadian car buyers, but they’ve served to slowly eliminate a once-common automotive entity – the beater.

You know, the rust-and-primer coated barge that just needs to make it through one more winter until its owner’s fortunes turn around? An increasingly rare presence in this day and age, and high gas prices and emissions regulations haven’t helped, either.

When so many road-going classics are now of the waxed weekly, Sunday drive variety, you really start to take notice of the beaters – especially the legitimately classic ones.

On a hot, dry day in July, this rusting land yacht beckoned to me from the side of Gateway Boulevard in south-end Edmonton, Alberta. A 1972 Buick Lesabre Custom, this rig truly fit the definition of ‘beater’.

Rusting everywhere along the lower body panels, and with a sun-faded vinyl top, this Brougham Era tank used to be a lot more commonplace. Yet, even with its rust and faded paint, its chrome still sparkled and the overall car still exuded a feeling of solidity, like a grizzled rancher who has no plans of retiring.

The LeSabre had beefier bumpers for ’72, in anticipation of federal 5-mph crash regulations coming down the pipe.

Clearly, this beast had been through many a winter, and the only reason there’s any body left is because Alberta doesn’t salt its roads.

The LeSabre was one of those ubiquitous ’70s full-sizers that, like the Caprice and LTD, seemed to make up a good part of the American landscape during its reign.

The LeSabre, slated above the Century in the Buick lineup but below the Electra 225, ran with few changes from ’71 to ’76, before downsizing shed both length and weight. Under the hood of this version was the trusty 350 c.i.d. V-8, now with Nixon-era EPA-mandated emissions controls.

A 455 c.i.d. V-8 was optional, with a badge on the front fender broadcasting your engine choice to the world. The only transmission available was the 3-speed Turbo-Hydramatic that propelled GMs from the 60s to the 90s.

The ’72s featured beefier bumpers than the previous year, an acknowledgement of the federally-mandated 5 mph bumper requirement that came into effect the following year. The ’73 bumpers weren’t nearly as graceful and form-fitting as those on the ’72.

The Electra 225 Limited was the top-end model for ’72, with the LeSabre slotting beneath it.

Times were changing in the American auto industry. Besides smog controls, Nanny State features like ‘fasten seatbelt’ lights and door ajar chimes entered Buick equipment lists in ’72. This was also the last year for full-size Buick ragtops.

The OPEC oil embargo the following year would bring a whole new world of hurt to the industry, one that nearly killed a member of the Big Three by the end of the decade.

Still, seeing this relic 42 years after it rolled of the assembly line is a reminder of how far the industry has come since that turbulent decade. And, we can’t forget that GM, and Buick, lives on today.

While General Motors executives might be suffering through some sleepless nights thanks to the ongoing ignition switch/recall fiasco, the news these days isn’t all bad.

Bloomberg News is reporting skyrocketing GM sales in that exotic and lucrative market that all automakers lust over – China.

Yes, the eastern superpower is hungry for vehicles – especially high end vehicles with foreign cache, of which GM is only too happy to provide. Total GM vehicle sales are up 9.1% this June, year over year.

It’s been reported for some time that Chinese car buyers fancy the Buick brand, and sales of those models certainly make up a fair share of the growing volume, but it’s Cadillac that’s now seeing the biggest sales bump.

Sales of Cadillacs rose 46% year over year in June, with the first half of 2014 showing a 72% overall increase. In contrast, Buick sales in June were 14% higher than in 2013. GM expects even greater sales in the second half of this year, and plans to do everything possible to ensure the trend continues.

Much cash is slated for spending in the coming years to boost production for the Chinese market.

Clearly, China is quite enamoured with the 111-year-old luxury brand, despite being far removed from much of Cadillac’s storied history. Clearly, they’re playing catch-up, though no word if there’s an online demand for imports of these:

He was from America, she was from the Continent. He liked Zeppelin, she preferred Ace of Base.

Yet, somehow this late-90s E-Class and circa-1975 Buick LeSabre found each other. In a west Quebec garage/scrapyard.

Just like in Titanic.

I always admired the capable, no-nonsense presence of the E-Class, but that Buick is land barge Heaven.

A road tank. A square-rigged cabin cruiser, like so much of what rolled off 1970s U.S. assembly lines.

Malaise was soaking into the industry in the mid-70s, but this ’75 reflects an era where full-size meant living room, full hardtops and convertibles were still available, and the increasingly emissions-choked 455cid engine option was still on the books.

In 1977, downsizing across the entire GM lineup turned those heady days of conspicuous excess into memories.